


Vows and Loyalty

by peldarjoi



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: F/M, Gen, Starfleet, non-federation, prime directive violation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-08
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-03-02 12:19:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 12,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13317957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peldarjoi/pseuds/peldarjoi
Summary: A Starfleet security officer gets a little too involved in the lives of those she's assigned to protect. Loyalty, morality and duty all have shifting meanings outside of the immaculate borders of the Federation.Note: I marked this as TNG because it happens in the Alpha Quadrant aboard a Starfleet ship roughly during the time of the TNG movies, maybe after the war-ish. No actual TNG characters make an appearance.





	1. Peace Talks

The conference room doors opened suddenly, much sooner than the expected end of the meeting. Juril stalked out and Lieutenant Greene hurried to fall into step with him. By the look on his face, she could tell the negotiations weren’t going well.

“Back to your quarters?” She asked, but she could already that was where he was headed.

The USS Valdemar had been sent to Tehgal IV to provide security and a neutral location for talks between the dominant governmental body, the Unification and Enforcement League and the rebellion, who had no official name.

The two groups had been at war for decades without resolution. The UEL accused the rebels of undermining the government and spreading anarchy. The rebels accused the UEL of unjust legislation, domination through cruelty, fear and persecution… the works.

As a Starfleet officer, she was required to remain neutral, but based on the numerous assassination attempts they’d thwarted, she was inclined to believe the rebels’ side of things. Just that morning, they’d found a remat on Juril’s clothes after he’d been on the surface for a few hours. The thought of it sent a shudder down her spine. What a horrifying way to go.

When they reached his guest quarters, Ensign Hauet nodded to them and opened the door, remaining in position.

Greene remained stationed on the inside of the doors while Juril set himself heavily on the couch. He was young for a military leader, only around her age. The UEL had successfully widdled away at their command structure so that anyone with formal military training from before they came to power was gone. That wasn’t to say that Juril was inexperienced, he’d been with the rebels most of his life, he was just… informal.

“Not going so well?” Vorga said, walking over to him. He was one of the two associates he’d been allowed to bring with him for this.

“Actually, it’s going too well. The Unies are agreeing to anything and everything. They make a show of thinking it over, but I’ve put some pretty crazy things on the table and they’ve agreed to all of it.”

“You think they’re planning something?”

“I think,” he said, glancing in Greene’s direction, “that they’re playing along as long as Starfleet’s around. Get us to let down our guard, uncover our network and as soon as Starfleet leaves, they’ll go back on all of it.”

“So, what are you going to do?”

Holu broke in from across the room. “What we need to do is strike back while they think we’re fooled by their little game.”

“We’re working under a ceasefire. I will not break our word.”

“Ceasefire.” She mocked. “All the while they’ve made how many attempts on your life during these supposed negotiations?”

“Six.” Greene finally spoke up.

Holu gestured to her like she had just confirmed her point.

“The ceasefire may not matter to them, but it does to us.”

“Were being systematically eliminated bit by bit. Our numbers have been cut in half just in the last four years. It’s becoming impossible to accomplish even minor strikes. We’re losing. We no longer have the luxury of morality.”

“Okay. Let’s just say for the sake of argument that we’re willing to throw all that away. We can’t afford to go against Starfleet.” He turned to Greene, “What would Starfleet do?”

“They would stop you. _I_ would be required to do everything I can to stop you.”

“Meanwhile the Unies get away with these assassination attempts?” Holu shot at her.

“They’re under investigation right now. If we’re able to uncover evidence that the attacks were officially sanctioned, we will hold the UEL responsible.”

“Oh, that makes it so much better.” She sneered. “Forget it. If we’re done, we’re done.” She stormed out of the common area to her room.

Vorga gave a sympathetic shrug and followed her.

“Any suggestions?” Juril asked Greene.

Giving tactical advice was strictly forbidden, even if she had any to give. Politics were positively beyond her. “Stall. String them along as long as you can until you can come up with something.” It sounded like a brush-off, but it was all she had.

He leaned forward and buried his face in his hands, running his fingers through his thick brown hair. The weight of his people’s freedom rode hard on his shoulders. Not only his group of rebels, but all others who were too afraid to act.

She’d spent enough time with him to understand that he was the type to step up when no one else would. To do the things that were necessary no matter the cost to himself. But Holu was right, unless something changes soon, it was only a matter of time before all was lost. And no amount of stubborn perseverance would save them.

Before she realized it, Lieutenant Dharel had arrived to relieve her and she left Juril alone.


	2. Not So Neutral, Maybe

Greene turned over in her bed, kicking to straighten out the covers that were twisted around her ankles. Her chest felt like there was a neutronium weight hanging from it. The rebel numbers had been cut down by half in only four years. She hadn’t known it was that bad.

She tried distracting herself by thinking through the scenes of her favorite holonovels, or reciting the drills she’d memorized at the Academy. No matter what she tried to focus on to lull herself to sleep, her mind kept going back to them. To him.

In her mind she watched his fingers part channels through his hair. Then his hands were on her ankles, sliding up her legs. Without realizing it, she had turned onto her back with her knees spread apart. She imagined his hands moving up the inside of her thighs and felt something like an electric surge within herself.


	3. So Much for That

The following morning had the security team on high alert. The UEL, as a supposed show of good faith and friendship, had invited the Federation mediator and Juril with his team to the capitol city for brunch.

Juril was naturally suspicious of their motives, but without solid evidence that they had ulterior motives, he had no excuse to decline. Captain Morone, at least, wasn’t fooled either and had ordered a full security sweep of the area and doubled the number of officers to keep watch. But until they made a move, all they could do was wait with heavy expectation. Greene stood just behind where Juril was seated to keep a vigil.

With a distant boom, the lights winked out. The UEL representatives dropped to the floor instantly as though they’d expected it. All others: Federation, Starfleet, rebels, scrambled to react. Greene spotted the first shooter with a phaser aimed straight at Juril.

She lunged for Juril, slamming into his shoulder with enough force to knock him from his chair. She fell to the floor with him just under a phaser blast that sliced through the air. Something that felt like a swarm of bees stung her arm. When she looked, she saw that the phaser had just grazed her arm.

The pain was so intense, she could hardly perceive anything else. Her senses were whited out. It felt like her entire arm was being burned off. She forced herself to push through the pain and pulled out her phaser.

Vorga and Holu scurried over to them below the blanket of energy blasts. “We’ve got to get you out of here.” Holu said. “We have hideouts here in the capitol.” She told Greene.

“Through there.” Greene said, indicating the nearest exit rout that she’d made a point to locate earlier.

Keeping low, they hurried toward the exit while other officers moved to contain the attackers. She avoided using her phaser to make them less of a conspicuous target and they slipped through the door past Ensign Hauet, who was slumped against the wall either dead or unconscious. She hoped it was the latter.

Vorga grabbed Hauet’s phaser as they passed and covered the area ahead while she covered behind.

They’d made it a few meters down a hedge-lined pathway when another shooter spotted them. The two rebels and Greene surrounded Juril and fired toward the attacker.

“Go, get him out of here.” Vorga told her.

“What about you?”

“We’ll be fine. We’ll keep him occupied then meet you at the place.” He said.

Greene and Juril sunk into the hedge and pushed through the branches to the other side where they found a wide grassy expanse dotted with ornamental trees. They ran toward the property boundary, sticking as close to the hedge and trees as possible.


	4. In Just a Little Deeper

Once they were off of the lavish UEL-owned grounds their surroundings became less and less affluent the farther they went. Less than a kilometer out they entered a dense urban city that was barely a step up from ghetto. Even at mid-morning, the streets were virtually empty. One thing was for sure, Juril knew this area very well. They’d had to slip into alleyways and shortcuts to avoid the militants searching for them.

She was grateful for his ability because she was nearly useless at this point. The pain from the phaser wound had dulled her senses and made it impossible to focus. She couldn’t believe such a small hit could hurt so much. What kind of phasers did that?

“We’re almost there.” He told her gently when she stopped against an alley wall to catch her breath.

“Where? Do you have a safe-house?”

“Not yet.” He said and urged her to cross another street to the alley on the other side.

Once there, he guided her back into a recessed doorway that smelled like something had rotted there not long ago. Then he lifted the cover of a garbage chute and reached inside to pull out a grimy med kit.

She slipped off her uniform jacket and shirt down to her tank top to give him access to the wound. “It only barely grazed me. How can it hurt so bad?”

“They’ve spent a great deal of resources perfecting their weapons to make them as painful as possible.” He said as he took a strip of something out of the med kit, peeled a backing off of it and guided it down onto her skin.

The relief was immediate. Whatever was on that thing had soothed the pain down to almost nothing. She closed her eyes for a moment and enjoyed the feeling of not-pain. And the secondary feeling of his hands on her bare skin. Not the time to think about that, though.

“Better?”

“Yeah. I just can’t believe how much it could hurt from just a skim.”

He nodded knowingly while he placed a bandage over the top of the salve strip. “I know.” Of course he did. He had to have experienced it plenty of times.

She finally had a chance to look around with a clear head. She’d never have imagined people living in such a place. “Is the whole city like this?”

“When the Unies came to power they began cutting away at social programs, stopped funding public infrastructure, placed such a heavy tax burden on the middle-class that the economy all but collapsed. All while lining their own pockets and telling the people they were doing it to help them.” He said with a sneer. “There are pockets of affluence where the wealthy live walled off from the rest of the people. But, for the most part, the whole planet is like this to some degree.”

That’s why the officials hadn’t wanted Federation representatives beaming down outside of their designated locations. They had said it was for their own protection from rebel attacks, but she was becoming used to everything coming out of the UEL being lies.

“I can see why some people have chosen to fight back.” She said as she pulled her shirt and jacket back on without fastening them down the middle.

“For all the good it’s done us.” He had barely finished the sentence when something caught his attention and he put his finger to his lips in the universal sign to be quiet.

When the threat had passed, he motioned for her to stand and keep going. “We need to get to that safe-house.” He said.

She assumed when Vorga said to meet at ‘the place’ Juril knew what place he was talking about.

“I suppose there’s no way to change the regime through legal means.” She concluded.

“They control the whole system, the military, the supposed civilian police force, even the media. No, there’s only one way it can end.”

He didn’t add that that one way was looking less and less likely every day.

She caught a sound up ahead, a voice. She couldn’t make out what they were saying, but it had a definite military sound to it. They began to backtrack only to meet the same thing at the other end.

“This way.” He said and they squeezed into a small gap between buildings that wasn’t more than half a meter in width and depth.

They waited for the threat to pass pressed tight up against each other, cheek to cheek. His breath on her neck sent goose-bumps down her back and she saw that her cleavage happened to be rather noticeable in that position. She could feel his heart pounding against hers.

Despite her better judgement, she turned to face him. His rich brown eyes drilled into hers. Her breath caught in her throat. He leaned almost imperceptibly toward her and she felt her lips parting to meet his.

His lips… were unbelievably soft as he pressed them firmly against hers. More, even, than she’d imagined.

She shouldn’t be doing this. This was a breach of protocol, a disregard of implied orders. She should assure his arrival at a safe place then beam back to her ship. There was no way the negotiations would go on now, that mission was over. But she couldn’t stop herself from kissing back.

With considerable effort, she broke the connection and turned away. “We should get you to that safe-house.”

He leaned his head against hers before turning to peer down the alley.


	5. That's That

They entered the building from a back entrance into the kitchen of a restaurant. She was, of course, sympathetic to these people’s situation, but she still couldn’t imagine herself eating at such a filthy place.

The one worker there glanced briefly at Juril and nodded ever so slightly. They wound their way between food storage and preparation equipment back to a pantry. At the back wall of the pantry, behind a tall stack of crates full of root vegetables there was a small, hand-made door. Juril slipped through without hesitation and she followed.

The passage let them out into a dark, starkly furnished room. The windows had been blacked out, there were only a few mismatched chairs, a table and a bed that couldn’t possibly be a sanitary thing to touch much less sleep in.

“Is this where we’ll meet up with Vorga and Holu?”

“No, that’s a place not far from here. But I don’t want to risk approaching it in the daylight.”

She turned to see that he was standing at her shoulder. In the dim light she could barely make out his face, but the little bit of light that came in glinted off of his eyes, making them almost sparkle.

She hesitated.

He hesitated.

Neither moved or breathed for an eternity, then almost in perfect coordination, they moved toward each other to meet in between. This time when their lips found each other’s, she was overcome by a furious desire for more of him. Their hands grasped at each other’s bodies desperately, pulling at their clothes.

* * *

“You know, I don’t even know your given name.” Juril said.

Greene sat on one of the chairs with her legs propped on another one. “Emily.”

“Emily.” He repeated. “I think I still prefer Greene, though. Are you going to get in trouble for this?”

“You mean for taking off with you? Or for… that?” She gestured toward the wall where they’d had sex.

He laughed shyly, “Both, I guess.”

“Coming here with you may not have been the smartest choice, but I can talk my way out of it. As for the other thing, it’s none of their business.”

“You don’t think they’ll consider it a conflict of interest?”

“I’m sure they would. But I don’t intend to tell them about it.” Technically it should be reported, but she had no intention of doing so. “The question is, how your people are going to react. Already you’ve shown my how you stash supplies and how to get into one of your safe-houses when you barely know me.”

He shook his head. “I’ve trusted you with my life for the last few weeks. I made sure to size you up right off.” He waved off her concern. “And as for that,” he motioned to the same place, “That’s none of their business either.”

A sadness crept into her chest, “We’ll probably never see each other again after today.”

He scooted his chair closer so he could take her hand. “At least we’ll have today.” He squeezed her hand and made a move to stand up. “Well, we’re going to be here for a few more hours. I bet there’s a set of playing cards around here somewhere. I can teach you how to play _paielz_.”


	6. The Plan All Along

In the dark, they zig-zagged through dead city streets. Just about the time she was going to ask whether they were getting close, Juril shushed her and waved her back into the shadows.  
Moments later, soldiers in UEL uniforms marched by.

“Peacekeepers, they’re probably out here looking for us and the others.” He whispered almost too softly to hear. Then a commotion down the street caught their attention and they edged closer.

They could only see a small section, but it looked like these ‘peacekeepers’ were hauling people out onto the street and searching their houses. While they watched, an uncooperative man was thrown down to the ground. The soldier held him down with his boot on his chest, aimed his weapon and fired.

Greene’s phaser was instantly in her hand and she made a move to intervene but Juril grabbed her wrist to stop her.

“There’s nothing we can do for them right now.” He said, pulling her away. “And if they catch us here, it’ll be even worse for them.”

She re-holstered her weapon and allowed him to lead the way, which didn’t take long. He slowed to a stop at an abandoned building and sunk into the shadows. With a quick look around, he tugged on the boards covering one window, it swung open like a door and he stepped inside.

She followed him into complete darkness. Wherever they were, it sounded like a huge room. Maybe a lobby. The only way she could tell which way to go was the sound of his footsteps. She nearly bumped into him when he stopped.

“Stairs.” He warned.

She reached out to find a railing and followed him down. Her hand slid along the worn and splintered rail, but it was the only thing keeping her from stumbling in the dark.

She tripped slightly at the bottom when there were no more steps and heard him knock lightly on a door in a rhythmic pattern.

The door opened with only slightly more illumination on the other side. The woman at the door greeted him with familiarity and a hand resting lightly on a phaser rifle hanging from her shoulder.

“Have Vorga and Holu come back yet?” He asked her.

“No.”

The interior could loosely be called a command center. More mismatched chairs and tables similar to the safe-house, a replicator that looked to be offline with parts missing, storage crates that she guessed held weapons, food and other supplies. Along one wall was a grouping of computer stations with people clustered around one of them.

“Juril! You have to see this.” One of them said, casting Greene a suspicious glance. “Play it from the beginning.” He said to the one seated at the console.

The playback began on the dirty screen with the head and shoulders of a professional-looking journalist. _“The identities of the shooters at this morning’s incident where two Starfleet officers, among others, were injured have been identified as Pavo Seera, Rimar Iveri and Nuchi Tass, known members of the rebellion.”_ She said dispassionately. _“All three were shot and killed when peacekeepers attempted to arrest them. The UEL spokesperson says they will redouble their efforts to end the terrorist threat that has plagues our world for decades.”_

Juril turned away as the recording faded to black and kicked a bucket of tools that scattered and slid noisily away. “Seera, Iveri and Tass were taken into custody months ago.” He told her. “I promise you, it wasn’t us.”

“I know.” She said.

“The question is, what are we going to do? They’re using this as an excuse for another crackdown.” The man who’d spoken before said.

“Is there any evidence that this was a setup? A record that they’ve been in custody for months?” Greene asked. “Anything I can take to my captain?”

The person at the console, a teenage boy, she now realized, worked the controls. “There’s nothing in the system about their arrest.”

“And I suppose they have plenty of DNA evidence on the weapons and three dead bodies to hold up their claims.” Juril said, running his hand through his hair in frustration.

“I need to report in to my ship. See what’s going on from their end.”

“This area is shielded, you won’t be able to get a signal out. Alos can take you to a place where you can contact them.” He said, indicating the man who had spoken before.

Still with a wary expression, Alos began to show her the way to go.


	7. Orders

“This area is still partially shielded, you’ll be able to contact them, but the signal will bounce around the city so that they’ll be unable to pinpoint your exact location.” Alos told her when they arrived at the rooftop of the building.

“I understand.” She said and tapped her combadge. “Greene to Valdemar.”

After a moment, Captain Morone himself answered. _“Lieutenant, where are you?”_

“I’m with the rebel group. I wanted to make sure Juril got back to his people safely.” She said, though she was quite certain she hadn’t been any help at all.

_“Lieutenant, they’re the ones responsible for the attack that left Parks and Hauet critically injured. Leave the area immediately and call for beam-out.”_

“Sir, I’m convinced that they’re not responsible for the attack. They’re being set up.”

_“What makes you believe that?”_

“For one thing, the three suspects were arrested months ago and have been in custody since.”

_“Do you have evidence of that?”_

She knew that would be the next question. “No, there’s no record of their incarceration.”

_“So, we only have their word for it?”_

“Yes.” She said reluctantly. “But considering that Juril was the one being shot at, it makes sense. And there’s the fact that the UEL reps reacted before the shooters appeared. As though they were anticipating the attack. You were there, you must have seen that.”

_“I did, and I asked them about it. They said they’ve been under rebel attack for so long that they respond automatically.”_

“How convenient.” She said with a sneer.

_“Excuse me, Lieutenant?”_ She briefly wondered if he was talking to her from his ready room or if the entire bridge crew was present.

“The UEL controls the police and the media. It’s not unreasonable to suggest that they could frame-“

_“I’ll remind you that two Starfleet officers were critically injured-“_

“Most likely by UEL officers in disgui-“

_“The evidence points to the rebels, not the UEL-“_

“Evidence that could have been planted-“

_“Lieutenant.”_ He said sharply enough to make her breath catch. _“I will look into the matter, but as of right now, everything points to the rebels. I expect you back on board this ship in the next ten minutes. Is that understood?”_

Greene seethed silently.

_“Is that understood?”_

“Yes, sir.” She said through gritted teeth.

_“We will discuss your actions then. Morone out.”_

“I’ll show you where to go where they can get a signal lock.” Alos said.

“No.” She snatched off her combadge and worked to pry off the backing. “Take me back to your base. I’m disabling the transponder so they won’t be able to track me.” She said, already doing so.


	8. Committing to a Path

It had to be easily five minutes past the ten minutes Morone had given her by the time they got back to the others. She tried not to think about how much trouble she was in right now.

Raised voiced could be clearly hears as she and Alos entered the main room of the base. Specifically, Holu’s. At least that meant they’d made it back.

“… we’re just supposed to trust her because you say so? We barely know her. She could be running to the Unies right now.”

“I know her well enough to-“ Juril halted when she entered. “What did your captain say?” He asked her.

“He’s not convinced the rebel involvement is a fabrication, but he’ll look into it.”

Holu scoffed at that. “That’s likely.”

“He said he’ll look into it and I believe he will. Though, I don’t know how much good it will do.”

“What will Starfleet do if they find out the truth?” Juril said.

“Not much, I’m afraid. We’re not allowed to interfere with internal conflicts on non-Federation worlds. Beyond asking for extradition of those involved to stand trial for assaulting two Starfleet officers, they can’t do anything that will help you.”

“Perfect.” Holu said, turning away.

“Although,” Juril said thoughtfully, but the rest of what he was going to say was interrupted by an explosion above them that rained dirt down from the ceiling.

Juril started shouting orders to erase and destroy the computers and evacuate.

With the light fixtures still swinging from the blast, they heard soldiers stomping across the lobby above.

“Through the barracks.” He told her.

She moved toward the doorway with the others and pulled out her phaser to prepare to hold them off long enough for everyone to get out.

“Did you tell them where we are?” Holu hissed at her.

“I’m here, aren’t I?” She snapped back. “I disabled my combadge, they didn’t track me.”

The UEL soldiers opened fire the moment they entered. The tech finished his work on the computers which had begun to spill smoke into the room. He made a run for the exit and she laid down cover fire for him with the others, but he was cut down after only a few steps.

“Get moving.” Juril said to his people and they retreated quickly into a room full of cots and bunks.

Somewhere at the back of the room was a gathering of a dozen or so people. As the group Greene was with made their way there, they cleared out through some kind of passage way in the floor. She followed them down the escape tunnel.

Juril was the last one down and slammed a trap door closed behind him.

The line of rebels ran at a full sprint down a dimly lit tunnel with brick and wood planks lining the sides and top. Greene ran to keep up with them without having any clue where they were headed, but wherever it was was better than what was behind.

When those at the front of the line slowed to a walk, she saw Juril hold up a remote of some kind and press the activation key.

With a rumble that could be felt through the ground, the blast from some kind of preplanted bombs pelted them with a billow of dirt and debris.

“These tunnels,” He explained while working to catch his breath, “have been in place since the early days of our movement. The Unies know they’re here, but haven’t been able to uncover more than a few branches.”

They passed a piece of tech imbedded in the wall. She guessed it probably created sensor ghosts or a scattering field to hide the tunnels.

“If your captain does start asking questions,” He said, picking up his thought from before, “and if he pushes hard enough to make the right people nervous, the Unies will do what they always do when they’re caught red-handed.”

Vorga fell into step beside him. “They’ll pick whoever is closest to the blame and throw them to the wolves.”

“How does that give us an advantage?” Greene asked.

“It briefly destabilizes the organization.” Juril said. “They’ll need to restructure while still under pressure from Starfleet’s scrutiny. If we can coordinate strategic strikes across the planet, we might just be able to finally regain some traction.”

The group up ahead stopped and Juril pushed through to the front, followed by Vorga, Holu and Greene. It looked like about thirty people here. Not many to take on a government.

In front of them was a dead end with a ladder that extended up into a vertical passage. Juril started up the ladder and disappeared into the passage. Then Holu, then Vorga. Again, Greene followed, working her way up the ladder. At the top, she found the three of them standing in a small chamber.

In the darkness, Juril leaned close to a pinpoint of light in the wall in front of them and peered through. “It’s clear.” With that, he pushed on the wall and part of it bent into the room enough for them to slip through. She could hear the others on the ladder below as they cautiously stepped through the opening in the false wall.

Inside was a space not dissimilar to their other base. Mismatched furniture, stacks of equipment, so on and so on. The layout was slightly different, but it was essentially the same.  
“If it all happens the way you expect, we may not have a lot of time to plan anything.” She said to Juril.

“That’s just it,” He said with a smirk. “We have dozens of attack plans all worked out. Just haven’t had an opportunity to carry them out.”

“What sort of attacks?” She asked, suddenly feeling hesitant. Disobeying her captain’s order to return to the ship was bad enough. Participating in terrorist attacks would be a court martial.

He stepped close to her. “This is what we do. If you’re unable to be part of this, you should go back to your ship _now_ while you can.”

She had to blink a few times to process that. Join them or leave. That was the choice before her. She could go back, beg Morone for forgiveness and accept whatever consequences he had in store. Leave the system and go on with her life, her career. That was the smart thing to do. It was the Starfleet thing to do.

But how would she feel if she left these people now? At a time when every able-body was important. She had a decade of tactical training and experience that could help turn the course of their war. How could she live with herself if she walked away?

Holu stepped into her visual field. “This isn’t your fight. Go home.”

She swallowed hard. “No. This is my fight now.” She wasn’t even sure she had made the decision until she heard the words in her own voice. “Show me your plans. I’ll help you coordinate the attacks.”


	9. Chapter 9

Greene leaned back in a creaky chair that felt like it would snap apart if she went too far. It kept getting gradually shorter, too. She’d had to raise the seat back up three times already.

The desk in front of her was covered in padds, hand-scribbled papers, maps and every bit of information they could provide.

Their plans were quite extensive and very ambitious for the eight small pockets of rebels that remained scattered across the planet. She didn’t get bogged down in the minor details of each plan, but focused on the whole of it. How each attack would impact the others and the timing of all of them. And even more, she tried not to think about the fact that if she made a mistake, it could mean the end of any hope for these people.

She heard soft footsteps behind her and recognized them as Juril’s. He leaned against the desk next to her with a bundle of something in his hands. “Why are you doing this?” He asked gently.

She thought for a moment. She’d been asking herself that question for hours. “I joined Starfleet to do good. And we have. I’m proud of the things we’ve done. There are times where we made a positive difference in the universe that I can point to and say that I’m glad I was part of that.”

She pursed her lips, trying to find the words. “And now I can do that here. I took a vow to Starfleet, but my loyalty is to justice, to honesty, to what’s right. This doesn’t change that. It ends my career in Starfleet, but all it is is a change in location.”

His lips twitched into a hesitant smile and he held out the bundle to her. “I found some clothes for you. You should probably get out of that uniform.”

A pang of sadness hit her at the thought of taking it off for the last time, but she covered it up with a smirk. “Only if you help me.”

He returned a matching expression, “I think that can be arranged.”

* * *

Juril showed her to the back of a storage room full of equipment, food and such. “Someone a long time ago decided to put a sofa in here.” He told her when they reached a space that was sectioned off by shelving units. “For… ah… personal recreational activities. It’s pretty much the only private spot in the whole place.”

She tried not to imagine how many couples had used that sofa. Instead, she tossed her new clothes onto a shelf and detached her uniform jacket from her pants.

Juril slid his hands under the collar and slipped it off of her shoulders.

Without the outer layer, she felt a rush of cold from the unheated storeroom. But part of that might have been goosebumps from having him touching her again.

His warm hands found their way to her neck and unfastened her security-gold turtleneck. With the same motion, he slipped his hands inside and pushed it off onto the floor.

* * *

“Is this how you size up all of your new recruits?” She teased.

Before he could reply there was a pounding on the door followed by Holu’s irritated voice. “If you two are done, some of us need to get in there to get some supplies.”

Greene could only cover her face with her hands and laugh in embarrassment.


	10. Chapter 10

Greene carried her bundled up uniform over to where a team was working to conceal bombs in three crates designated for the city-wide power station. She approached Alos, “Hey, do you have space in there for this?” She asked, holding out her uniform.

He looked at it uncertainly, “There’s room, but why?”

“Starfleet will detect trace amounts of the material in the aftermath.”

“You want them to think you were killed in the blast?” Holu sauntered over to her.

“I’m about to break the Federation’s most important law. That’s not something they’re going to let me get away with. They’ll hunt me down and all of you with me. Unless they think I’m dead.” She tried to push the image of her parents and friends being told the news out of her head. Then she held out her hand with her combadge in the palm. “Can you rig this to activate just before the blast? That way, they’ll know where to look.”

Holu took the combadge from her hand with a somber nod.

Juril walked to the center of the room with Vorga from the group of consoles in the corner. “Listen up.” He called.

When he had everyone’s attention, he continued. “The Unies have chosen their patsy. Cabinet Member Azi has been linked to yesterday’s attack along with Security Director Chirt. The rest of the government is already scrambling to distance themselves.

“You all know the details of your assignments, but here’s how it’s all going to go down.” He read from the padd Greene had given him earlier. “Alos’ team will hit the power grid first. It will take seventeen seconds for the generators to kick on. Before then, Vorga’s team will be in place at the security control center. They’ll have those seventeen seconds to upload a virus to the security comm system. When limited power comes back on, the comm system will broadcast a 2.5kHz signal at 146dB through the comm implants of the security forces, causing them to become violently ill and disoriented.”

“For how long?” Depith asked.

“As long as the sound continues. There’s no way to know how long it will take the control center’s system to detect and eliminate the virus, so we’ll need to be ready for them to recover at any time. The moment the guards are disabled, Holu, Greene and I will move into the central UEL compound, break into their computers and transmit a code to Toryi’s team who will use it to download currency units from the main commerce center.” A chuckle rumbled through the group at the thought of draining their bank accounts.

“Target the top officials’ accounts first, download as much as you can. If you run out of time, delete anything you can get to and get out. Even a fraction of the units in their accounts will go a long way when we distribute them to the civilians.”

“What about the commerce backup repository?” Toryi asked.

“The cells on the other continents will follow similar attack plans based on their unique situations. Their primary targets will be facilities such as the commerce backup repository, space ports, satellite network control stations and weapons depots. Alos’ team will be coordinating with their counterparts in the other cells and the rest of us will act from there. Any questions?”

Someone in the back who Greene assumed she would know his name before long spoke up. “Yeah. If 654 times 3 equals 1962, then will flying ferrets wear yellow hats?”

A wave of groans washed through the group, but Juril ignored him without missing a beat. “Let’s get moving. Double, triple and quadruple check everything. We cannot afford a mistake here.”

As they began to move back to their tasks, a woman, Haiwon, Greene thought, approached. “If we distribute the currency units to the people, the Unies will be able to track them and arrest anyone trying to use them.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll re-encrypt them first.” Juril assured her. When he stood alone with Greene, he said, “Something on your mind?”

“It’s nothing. I was just surprised that none of the plans included assassinations.” She’d been relieved, actually, but surprised.

“Assassinations don’t do much good, I’m afraid. The line of succession is long and you have to go through a lot of names to get to anybody half-way decent. So, it’s no use. Their bank accounts are where to hit them.”

Growing up in a moneyless economy, she could only take his word for it. “We should follow your own orders and quadruple check our plan.”


	11. Chapter 11

Greene watched Juril pace the length of their hideout. A sympathetic landlord had fudged the paperwork to allow the rebels to lease an apartment unit in a building that bordered the central UEL compound to use as a staging area.

Juril was on edge, that much was clear. All of the other teams had been deployed, they had exactly twenty-three minutes, eleven seconds until Alos’ team was to disable the power grid. At that instant, she and Juril would make a run for the UEL compound, trusting that Vorga’s team would have disabled the security guards by the time they reached the perimeter, and Holu would do the same from another location.

“Try to relax. Stressing yourself out isn’t going to improve our chances.” She said gently.

He finally sat down. “I know. I just hate waiting the last few minutes before a mission starts. There’s nothing that can be done now to make things better, if we find something’s been forgotten, there’s no changing it.” He sighed heavily, “I just hate this part.”

She couldn’t help but notice that the two of them had ended up completely alone with about twenty minutes to kill, and she had an idea. She took a moment to verify that the comm was on mute. Then she sat on his lap and leaned down for a kiss.

“What are you doing?” He asked with a mixture of amusement and uncertainty.

“Helping you relax and pass the time.” She said in the sweetest voice she could manage and leaned down to kiss again.

After a long, deep kiss she could feel his shoulders and body relax. “Better?”

“Yeah.”

She glanced at the chronometer. No time for more, it was almost time to get going. She looked around to find the utility belt that held a Tehgali phaser along with tools that would assist in their break-in. She’d decided not to use her Starfleet phaser because it would be easily detected from her ship that was still in orbit. They must have been searching for her by now.

She located her utility belt, along with Juril’s on the floor where they’d set them earlier and dropped his into his lap.

Still in a daze, he fumbled with it while she wrapped hers around her hips and buckled it. “You’d better pull yourself together in the next five minutes.”

He pushed himself forward in the chair. “That… that was…” he stammered, unable to spare brain power for speech while fastening his belt.

She leaned down to kiss his cheek, “You’re welcome. But, seriously, snap out of it. I need you at one-hundred percent.”

He rubbed his face with both hands. “I’m getting there. Too bad we don’t have a little more time.”

She stepped in front of him and he wrapped his hands around the backs of her thighs. “Incentive for us both to get through this alive. You owe me one.”

He smiled up at her, “I owe you a lot more than that. You left your entire life to join our fight. You’ve given us renewed hope. Revived our momentum. We owe you everything.”

She leaned down to kiss him gently on the lips. “No, you don’t.”

The chronometer beeped urgently, signaling the one-minute mark. Her heart rate surged, this was it. Juril stood and together they took up ready positions at the door. She forced her breathing to slow to an even pace.

“Comms on.” He told her and she complied, turning her comm back on. “Team three checking in.”

 _“Team one checking in.”_ Alos’ voice came over the comm.

 _“Team three-b checking in.”_ Holu said.

 _“Team two checking in.”_ Vorga said.

 _“Team four checking in.”_ Toryi said.

_“Team one. Confirmed other cells are prepared and time-synced.”_

Her heart hammered out the seconds as they waited at the door. Her muscles tensed, ready to bolt.

In the distance, three deep, rapid fire explosions sounded and the lights winked off. Within a fraction of a second, Juril had slid the door open and they rushed out into the street at a full sprint, trusting that Vorga’s team would disable the guards by the time they reached the perimeter.

They crossed to the other side of the street and onto the short-cropped grass on the other side, speeding toward the perimeter fence.

Greene counted the seconds. _Five… six… seven…_

 _“Initiating.”_ Vorga said in her ear.

“Stop right there!” A security guard shouted with his weapon pointed at them right before he crumpled to the ground with his hands on his head.

_Ten… eleven…_

They reached the fence before the power came back on. With the inertia of their sprint behind them, they dug their fingers into the mesh of the fence and vaulted over. They hit the ground and continued their furious dash toward the main building.

_Fifteen… sixteen…_

The lights winked back on just as they skidded to a halt at one of the side entrances. Greene covered Juril while he worked to bypass the lock.

After agonizing seconds, he said, “Got it.” And manually slid the door to the side. Only limited power was functional, so they’d be doing a lot of things manually.

They slipped inside to find two guards writhing in agony on the floor. She marched past them into the hallway, but heard two short phaser blasts behind her. She turned in time to see Juril squeeze by her and the two guards were no longer moving. She stared at the sight for a moment with a lump in her throat.

Logically, he’d made the right move. Kill the enemy before they recover and kill them. Still, a lifetime serving Starfleet prevented her from making such a call. Time would tell whether that would change.

She tore herself away and jogged down the hallway after him. Fortunately, there would be few to no staffers here at this time of night and they would be unlikely to run into anybody but soldiers.

The rebels had mapped this place long ago, all they’d had to do was memorize enough of it to get in and out. After a few turns, the datastore server room was right around the corner. Together, they whipped around, expecting to come face to face with a guard there only to find, instead, Holu crouched in front of the door control panel and a dead guard on the floor next to her.

“Took you two long enough.” She said without looking back.

Greene and Juril stood above Holu protectively, the security comm system could be repaired at any moment, allowing guards to come flooding toward them. She hoped, at least, it would take them a few extra minutes to recover.

She heard the door slide open manually behind her, accompanied by a few grunts from Holu as she did so and peeked behind her as she backed into the room with Juril. Holu did a quick glance around the room to see that it was empty before sitting down at a console.

With Juril guarding the open door, Greene moved through the racks of computer hardware to verify there was no one there. They hadn’t expected anyone this late, but she had to be sure.

 _“We need that code.”_ Toryi said over the comm.

“I’m almost there.” Holu said as Greene continued a careful circuit of the room. “I found the data block, it’s decoding now.”

 _“The security comm system is fighting back, we’re going to lose the signal any moment.”_ Vorga said over phaser fire in the background. At least a few of the security guards must have found their legs somehow.

“I have the code. Three, faral, zero, wikes, kroni… “ Holu read off the code using some form of phonetic alphabet.

Finally satisfied they weren’t in for any surprises in the room, Greene joined Juril at the door.

“You know, we have to kill them even when they’re immobilized. Fair play or not.” He said to her after a moment. He must have seen her hesitation back there when he killed the guards at the door.

“I get it. It’s just going to take some time to get used to a new set of rules.”

“… trar, three, nine, ofe.”

_“Got it. We’re in.”_

_“The signal is down, you’ll have incoming any minute.”_

“Vorga, your job is done, get out of there.” Juril ordered.

“Same goes for us.” Greene said.

He only nodded as Holu joined them. Noises that indicated the guards had begun to recover filtered through the hallway ahead. The three crept toward the first intersection. Greene edged closer to peek around the corner.

There were four of them that looked like first-year cadets who had just come off their first zero-g session, bent over, a little green in the face and standing on shaky legs. But they were heading their way with phasers in hand.

She held up four fingers up to her companions and knelt down low for them to take positions above her.

Phaser fire blasted the wall next to her and she pulled back from the corner. As much as it had hurt to take a shot that only grazed her arm, she didn’t want to find out what a direct hit felt like.

The moment the phaser fire died down, the three leaned out in unison and blasted toward the guards who scattered and dove away.

“Cross!” Juril said.

Keeping up their own cover fire they hurried across. The two remaining guards that hadn’t been hit returned fire, but their shots were wild and haphazard, still fighting against the aftereffects of the signal.

Greene and the others ran down the hallway toward another exit. The next time they ran into security guards probably wouldn’t be so easy. She suddenly realized there was no sound coming through the comm.

“Comms are dead.” She told them.

As they approached another corner where they planned to take a left and a quick right, they skidded to a stop. More guards. Juril backed them away from the intersection into an empty utility closet and slid the door almost all the way closed so they could hear the guards quickly walk by.

“…get Tilkaz to the bunker immediately then search for the…”

 _Tilkaz._ Juril mouthed to Holu.

She nodded excitedly. Tilkaz was one of the senior cabinet members. That hadn’t been part of the plan, but she had a feeling that was about to change.

“I thought you didn’t bother with assassinations.” She whispered.

“We do when they’re dropped in our laps.” Holu whispered back.

“That line of succession I mentioned,” Juril said softly, “think of it like a hit list. If the opportunity presents itself, we have to take it. We didn’t expect any of them to be here, and even more, he’s not locked away in the bunker yet. We have to take advantage.”

Holu worked to slide the door back open. “And every second we stand here talking about it is another second closer to the bunker he gets.” With that, she crept into the hallway with Juril right behind.

Greene followed reluctantly. She hadn’t exactly agreed to this, but she guessed in a way she had when she got involved in the first place. They were rebels, this is what they did.


	12. Chapter 12

The location of the bunker wasn’t indicated on the map, but Juril and Holu seemed to know exactly where to go. They snuck as close as they could to the fortified and guarded entrance to the lift that would take Tilkaz to the underground bunker.

The thick doors to the lift were still open, suggesting that he hadn’t been taken in yet. The three intruders took up positions nearby on alternating sides of the hallway, waiting for their moment. They’d have one and only one shot at this. but the success or failure of the assassination didn’t concern her as much as keeping these two alive and getting the hell out of here.

Juril motioned to her from the other side of the hallway, they were coming.

From their position, they looked down the hallway where the lift entrance opened up straight ahead in the center of a t-intersection. Based on the response of the guards standing on either side of the doorway, Tilkaz was coming in from the left.

A tight grouping of attendants and body guards surrounded the politician as they protectively ushered him toward the entrance.

Juril nodded for them to attack.

Together, they stepped out of hiding far enough to get a clean shot into the lift and opened fire. Her stomach turned at the act of participating in an ambush, but she did her part, taking down one guard after another. She held in her mind the image of the man held down in the street and shot in cold blood.

One of the attendants pushed Tilkaz into the lift and hit the button to send it down.

The doors closed almost in slow motion as their chance began to vanish. Juril threw himself to the floor in the middle of the hallway and fired at Tilkaz. His blast slipped just past the closing doors to strike him in the gut.

With the doors sealed, they couldn’t tell how badly he’d been hit, but they couldn’t afford to wait around. They began an immediate retreat, taking turns covering each other as they made their way back to the exit.

Greene held the advancing guards back with rapid phaser fire as her companions moved back to find a position. The moment she saw phaser blasts scream past her from behind, she ducked down and hurried back to repeat the process. She had just knelt down on one knee behind a large potted plant to lay down cover for Holu when she watched, unable to respond quickly enough, a shot from the enemy strike her in the stomach.

Holu stumbled back with a pain-filled scream, clutching her abdomen. Greene could imagine the pain of it. She surged forward, almost forgetting the phaser fire that continued to hammer all around them. She hooked her arms under Holu’s armpits and dragged her back while Juril covered them.

The potted plant wasn’t enough cover for the two of them, so she went farther back to an intersection that was thankfully empty and laid Holu down.

The normally tough woman curled her body into a partial fetal position. Her face was twisted with pain and she grasped her middle with already bloody hands.

Greene glanced around, they were close to the exit, just around the corner. They could make it if she could get her back on her feet.

“Come on!” she shouted over the noise of battle, “We don’t have far to go.” With that, she grabbed her wrist and hooked her arm over her neck to lift her up.

Holu cried out as she hoisted her up onto her feet, but she managed to stay up, hanging onto Greene’s shoulder.

Greene’s eyes locked with Juril’s and he nodded, ready to make a break for the exit. He continued firing behind them while they moved as fast as Holu could manage down the side hallway and around the corner.

The exit was just at the end of the hall, but there was still no safety beyond it. They still would have to make it across the grounds, through or over the perimeter fence and into the city where they could disappear.

When they reached the door, she left Holu to lean against the wall while she forced the door open. She barely had it half way open when energy blasts bit the edge of the door. She backed up behind it, but Juril was only barely managing to hold off the increasing number of pursuers.

At the first opportunity, she leaned out and fired toward the source of the blasts. Juril worked his way backward through the door with Holu at his side. Once they were through, Greene slipped through after them and to the side behind a half-wall. She used her boot to slide the door closed and fired into the lock to fuse it shut.

Phaser blasts rained down so thick that it lit up the space between Holu and Juril on one side and Greene on the other. So much that she had to shield her eyes from the brightness. Through it all, she caught sight of Juril, he didn’t have a play either. Maybe it had been unnecessary to fake her death after all.

The sudden noise of a hover vehicle caught her attention based on the doppler effect, it was coming toward them, and fast. Even if one of them had had a plan, escape was impossible now.

The vehicle lifted up just high enough to clear the fence and hovered over the guards that had them pinned down.

Without warning, the hover vehicle opened fire on the troops below them, sending them scattering for cover. Then it set down in the space between.

The side hatch opened and Vorga leaned out. “Get in!”

Greene bent over and helped Juril get Holu to her feet and together they ushered her into the vehicle.

With Vorga closing the door behind them, they laid Holu down in the nearly empty rear compartment. It looked like it was some kind of delivery vehicle.

“Like it?” Vorga asked, raising his arms to indicate the vehicle as they felt it lift off again.

“Where’d you get it?” Juril asked.

“We borrowed it from a few security guards who were having a little trouble recovering from the signal.”

Juril turned back to Holu and pulled her blood-soaked shirt up away from the wound.

Greene searched the compartment for a med kit. When she found one, she set it on the floor and flipped it open. First thing, she handed Juril a stack of gauze and he pressed it against the wound, forcing a painful help from Holu.

Greene took out what looked like a hypospray and brushed her fingers along a row of vials. She chose he first one. The label was written in Tehgali, of course, so she held it up to Juril.

He glanced at it for only a split second before identifying it. “Antiseptic.”

She slid it into the hypospray and injected a dose into Holu’s skin next to the wound, then held up the second vial.

“Stimulant.”

That wasn’t what she needed, so she held up a third.

“Sedative.”

Wrong again. She held up a fourth.

“Anesthetic.”

That was it. She slid it into the hypospray and dosed her with the pain killer. Her body immediately relaxed.

Greene took a moment to brush the sweat-dampened hair away from Holu’s eyes before digging in the med kit for bandages.

“The Unies will be able to track us in this thing.” Juril called up to Vorga. “We’ll need to set down somewhere in the city and split up before we go back to base.”

“That’s the plan. Do you think she’ll be able to travel?”

Juril looked back at Holu while Greene began to wrap a bandage around her stomach to hold the gauze tight. “We don’t have much of a choice.”

“I’m picking up Unie patrol vehicles coming this way.” The pilot said.

“Set down over there and we’ll split up.” Vorga said, pointing to some location on the ground.

Greene felt a light sensation in her stomach that only came from a vehicle without artificial gravity descending. She quickly tied off the bandage and, with Juril, lifted Holu between them.

The side hatch began to open a few seconds before they touched down with a shudder. She and Juril hobbled out with Holu as fast as they could while the others took a different rout. They all knew this city well enough that splitting up was far safer than sticking together.

They slipped down a dark alley as they noise of patrol vehicles grew louder, and they sunk down behind a grimy, metal refuse container moments before one passed by. They carefully lowered Holu to sit on the ground with her back against the container.

Juril knelt on one knee with his forearm resting on the other knee and took a moment to catch his breath.

“Got any of those safe-houses around here?” Greene asked, kneeling in almost exactly the same position.

“One. A few blocks from here.” He said grimly, looking down at Holu’s blood already soaking through the bandages. She was dazed and barely conscious from some combination of pain, blood loss and the pain killers she’d given her.

Greene swallowed hard to wet her dry throat. That safe-house might as well be a few kilometers from here for all the good it would do them with Holu in this condition. Even if she’d survive that much of a trek, there was little chance they’d be able to move swiftly enough to avoid the patrols.

As she watched him mull over their lack of options, the door to one of the narrow, attached homes that faced the alley opened and an old woman leaned out.

“Come. All three of you!” She whispered loudly, motioning to them with an urgency that made them obey.

They lifted Holu back to her feet, checked left and right for Unie patrols and dashed across to the woman’s door.

“Come, come inside before the patrols come back.” She said, ushering them in and secured the door behind them.

“Ma’am,” Juril began, “It’s not safe for you to have us here when they start searching houses.”

“Oh, nonsense.” She dismissed his concerns as she disappeared into another room and returned with a blanket. “I was hiding rebels before you were born.”

Juril’s jaw dropped watching her spread the blanket onto her sofa. “I…”

“Come on, bring her here.” She said.

They moved toward the sofa and laid Holu gently on it. The woman disappeared again and Greene gave him a questioning look. A shrug was his only reply before the woman came back with a handful of gauze and bandages. It was then that she realized how much blood had soaked into his shirt, then she looked down at her own to find the same.

“My name is Arda. I used to work with Ilkur back in the day.” She said while she worked to change out the soaked bandages.

“Ilkur.” He repeated. “That was a long time ago.” Then to Greene, he explained. “Ilkur began the rebellion. He was the first leader.”

Arda nodded slowly. “When he and the others were captured and executed, I lost all contact with the rebellion.”

Greene wondered how many others were out there, willing to help but too afraid to reach out.

She jumped at a hard nocking at the door. They must have started searching homes already.

Arda quickly finished Holu’s bandage and coaxed her up into a seated position. Juril and Greene moved to help her to her feet. When she was up, Arda bundled up the bloody blanket then went to open a door at the back of her small kitchen.

“Down here.” Arda whispered, motioning for them to follow her into her basement.

When they arrived at the bottom of the stares, they found that she had pulled a false wall out to reveal a half-meter by meter hiding place.

“Oh, don’t look so worried.” Arda said as she practically shoved them inside along with the bundled blanket. “I’ve been around long enough to know how to get rid of a few Unie soldiers.” With that she closed them inside and Greene watched pitch black darkness swallow up Juril’s concerned face.

The only sounds came from their slow but heavy and controlled breathing. Arda’s stockinged feet padded silently on the floor above them, but when the patrol entered, his boots stomped across the floor back and forth.

A closer sound, the door to the basement, followed by the patrol trudging down the stairs. When he reached the bottom, light from his flashlight came in through the space between the floor and the false wall. The light passed across their toes several times before they heard him climb back up.

Greene’s relieved sigh came out slowly and silently while they waited for Arda to release them.

When she did, they slowly and carefully maneuvered Holu back up the stairs and onto the couch where Arda had placed another blanket.

Juril stood back and said to Greene, “We can’t stay here.”

“We also can’t keep moving her.”

“That’s right, you can’t.” Arda said. “The bleeding is nearly stopped, but it’ll start again if she doesn’t stay put.” She walked away into another room as though the discussion was over.

Juril knelt down next to Holu and gently took her hand but she was out cold.

Arda returned with several articles of clothing draped over her arm. “These belonged to Ilkur and some of his colleagues. You two should get cleaned up before you head back out.”

“We can’t just leave her here for you to take care of.” Juril argued.

“You can and you will.” She said sternly. “I’ll get her cleaned up and care for her injuries. You can return for her when the patrols lessen up.”

Greene moved to the kitchen to wash the blood off her hands while they argued.

“But when they come back to search again, you won’t be able to hide her away on your own.”

“She’ll be my ‘sick granddaughter’ for a week or two.”

“There’s no guarantee they’ll buy that.”

“But there is a guarantee that she’ll die if you try to take her with you. And that the patrols will find you if you stay.” It was clear Arda was not going to be backing down.

“She’s right.” Greene said to him and he finally gave in and went to the kitchen.

Greene stripped off her blood-soaked shirt, handed it to Arda and took the one she offered.

“The clothes are a little outdated, but they’ll be a lot less conspicuous than all of that blood.” Arda said.

While Juril changed his shirt, too, Greene took a moment to once again appreciate his form. The way his muscles rippled as he moved and twisted before he covered them with the new shirt.

He bent down for one final look at Holu with concern etching his forehead.

Arda peeked out between her curtains. “The patrol is leaving the last house on the street. Now’s your best chance before he comes around again.”

Juril took the old woman’s hands in his. “Thank you.”

“Just do me a favor,” She said, staring intently into his eyes. “Slaughter those Unie bastards for what they’ve done to our people.” Then she nearly shoved them, shocked and stammering, out the door.


	13. Chapter 13

They were right to have left Holu with Arda, there was no way they’d have been able to avoid the patrols with her in tow and she might have bled out long before they got to their destination.

Or at least, Greene thought they’d arrived at their destination. Juril had taken her down a narrow alley and bent down in front of a small, ground-level window that had been blacked out like the windows at their other places. Near the window was a bent nail sticking out of the wall and he reached up to twist it to point down.

Then he found a flat piece of metal on the ground nearby, slid it under the crack below the window and wiggled it back and forth until the latch popped open. With a metal-on-metal scrape, he lifted the window up and slid himself, legs first, into the dark interior.

Greene gave him a moment to move away from the window and threaded her legs inside where they dangled over nothing. She scooted farther in and dropped to the floor inside. Once she’d closed the window behind her, Juril flipped on a dim light.

“What’s with the nail?” She asked. “There’s no possible way that had anything to do with unlatching that window.”

“No.” He laughed. “It’s to indicate whether someone’s in here. Up means vacant, down means occupied.”

Cleaver, she nodded. It would help prevent frayed nerves from getting… more frayed.

They stood there for a minute, still not ready to believe they’d actually made it out. She wondered how much of the currency units they’d made off with.

“Maybe going after Tilkaz wasn’t the greatest idea.” She suggested.

“Maybe not.” He agreed.

As soon as their eyes locked, a bubble of laughter erupted from her chest and he joined in. They could only stand there, laughing for several minutes. Every time they calmed themselves down, one of them or the other would start up again.

Finally, once the emotional release was spent, they stood in front of each other. They met in the middle with a tight embrace and their lips found each other immediately. His lips that she’d already begun to miss pressed into hers.

He lifted her up for her to wrap her legs around his hips. She could feel him take a few steps until her back side bumped into the edge of a table where he set her down. She ran her fingers through his hair while she kissed him hungerly.


	14. Chapter 14

Greene and Juril arrived back at base nearly a full day later. They’d planned on getting some sleep before heading out in the morning, but ended up talking all night. Mostly about plans for the future of the rebellion. More than just more violence, Greene had suggested starting a regular broadcast to combat the propaganda of the state-controlled media and finding ways to support education for the lower class. The rebels could fight against oppression with weapons, but the future of Tehgal IV lied in empowering the common people.

They only managed a couple of hours of sleep before they emerged from hiding. The pressure of Unie patrols hadn’t eased up at all since the previous night and it took the entire day to travel just over a kilometer to the base. They’d arrived after dark, which was preferable anyway.

The sentry at the door greeted Juril with an enthusiastic hug before she composed herself. Greene, on the other hand, barely received a curt nod. One grand gesture wasn’t going to win them over, it seemed.

Even after they entered the main chamber of the base, he was immediately enveloped into a bustling group while she simply laid her equipment onto a pile with that of the others and sank down into a chair.

“Hey guys, get this.” Toryi called out. “The news service is reporting an ‘unsuccessful attack’ by the rebels and an ‘unrelated’ report of Tilkaz suffering a sudden medical emergency at his home last night.”

Among the cheers that responded, Juril moved toward a young woman Greene didn’t know yet hard at work at another console. “How is it going with the product of our ‘unsuccessful attack’?” He asked.

“I’ve written an action that will automatically reprogram all of the currency units. But it has to do each one individually, so it’ll take a couple of days to get through them all.”

“Good work.”

After checking up on a few more of his people, he found his way back to Greene and handed her one of two packets he’d picked up somewhere.

She tore the packet open to find the same kind of field ration they’d eaten that morning. Based on the emptiness in her stomach, they did not last three days like those that Starfleet used. At least they were slightly more palatable than the Starfleet kind, tasting like some odd mixture of banana, figs and peanuts where Starfleet rations tasted more like the sole of a boot, with the same texture.

“It’s been a long day. You should get some rest.” He said between bites.

“I will.” She assured him and he walked away to tend to something else.

She took her time eating the rations while watching these people that she’d committed herself to. Some, like the woman at the console, were hard at work. Some paced the room with weapons in hand, waiting for a retaliatory strike. And a few were pared off or in small groups laughing and joking around with the exhilaration of a successful mission.

Finally, she pushed herself out of the chair and made her way to the barracks where there were a good number of people already occupying the cots that lined the room, all in various stages of falling asleep.

Greene found the cot she’d used two nights ago and sat down with a heaviness in her chest she hadn’t expected. She’d had her reasons to do what she did. She couldn’t imagine taking any other course of action than she had. She’d been unable to just walk away from these people.

Maybe she’d made a mistake. Maybe she’d acted rashly. Maybe. She buried her head in her hands. But then she remembered that man in the street and all the others that were killed or harassed or oppressed every day and one Starfleet career seemed a small price to pay to change all that.

She reached down to remove her boots, the one part of her uniform she’d kept, and laid down on her bed. For a long time, she laid there, listening to the others breathing or turning over on the creaky cots. Her mind continued to repeat the endless loop: had she made a mistake or the right choice?

After most everyone else had fallen silent, she heard footsteps approach quietly from behind. Juril’s footsteps, she’d recognize him anywhere. Just as she was about to turn over to see what he wanted, she felt him sit down next to her. He threaded his arm into the gap between her shoulder and neck and settled down against her back. Then he wrapped his arm around her and tucked his knees against the backs of hers.

“The Unies have expelled Starfleet from the system.” He whispered against her cheek. “The Valdemar left the system a few minutes ago.”

She was surprised to find the heaviness that had wrapped around her heart lifted immediately. The choice had been made and fixed in place, and she was certain now that it was the right one.

The tension eased out of her shoulders as she pressed her back against his chest and he squeezed her a little tighter. Definitely the right one.


End file.
